The Absolutely Excellent Misfortunes of Ms Weasley
by littlefishbigpond81
Summary: What could possibly lead a bright young witch to the depths of Hogwarts Castle in the middle of the night, seeking out pudding? Scorpius Malfoy could! A tale of betrayal, jealousy, and above all else, simple love... RoseXScorpius.  Rated T just in case!
1. Pudding and Other Calamities

**A/N: Okay. I feel horribly pathetic. I am so out of practice of posting a story that I forgot what to do when publishing! *facepalm* This is very bad.**

**Anywho, this is my first ever Harry Potter fic! I hope it's good... I absolutely revere some of the work that I've found on here, and would LOVE to be able to write as well as those authors who have written some amazing HP fics :)**

**And, thanks to SongOfTheMidnightWolf for reminding me about FanFiction, and telling me to publish something!**

**Here it is...**

"I thought I'd find you down here." Albus' voice reverberated off the high stone ceiling of the kitchens, and Rose nearly jumped off of her stool.

Face flushing immediately, she replied, "Hey, Al." Without so much as a glance towards her cousin, she returned her attention to the pudding in front of her.

"Master Albus, is you be wanting a bowl of jiggly, too?" a rather tiny house-elf cried, rushing up to the boy just as Albus set foot in the kitchens and almost tripping over himself in excitement.

"No, thank you, Woffy," Al replied kindly, a warm smile on his face. Woffy nodded rapidly, then scurried off behind a large counter, which, Rose was amused to find, was just tall enough to cower over Woffy's entire body except for his large ears.

"You're sure you don't want some pudding? It's absolutely excellent," Rose insisted miserably. A sharp pang of guilt erupted in her stomach when she realized that those last three words were used constantly by the person who led her to scarfing down pudding in the castle kitchens.

"I'm sure it is, Rose, but, erm," Albus started, glancing warily at the amount of pudding gone from the serving bowl, "I'm not sure I want to end up like Melissa Midgen-Proctor," he admitted, referring to a rather portly girl in their class. Sighing, he pulled the bowl away from Rose's grasp.

"Hey! I'm not done with that!" Rose protested, banging her spoon on Albus' arm as he gave the bowl to a passing house-elf. "Don't be such a –"

"Rose." Albus said sternly. "Get a hold of yourself."

Rose stared into her cousin's green eyes. She felt like slapping him for a split second, but she knew he only had her best interests in mind. However, at that moment, everything came crashing into the wrong places, like a puzzle put together wrong. Her life was falling to pieces. She was lying to everyone about something _extremely_ trivial. Her best friend had abandoned her for the last person Rose would have expected. She couldn't even bring herself to think about that certain tow-headed person, whom she had cried more tears over in one week than she had over anything in her entire life. Albus, her very own blood relation, was telling her to get a grip, and she couldn't even bring herself to take his advice.

Dropping her gaze quickly, she mumbled, "Don't worry, I'm not going mental, Al. If you were a girl in the same situations as I am at the moment, you'd be eating pudding down here as well." Rose began fiddling with her fingernails, a nervous habit she'd picked up from her older cousin Lucy.

"What on earth are you talking about?" Albus was completely flabbergasted. Hadn't she already told him why she was upset?

Rose stared hard at the floor as Albus pulled up another stool. "I, erm, may have lied a bit to you this morning," she admitted sheepishly. She tried with all her might not to look up at Albus, who was most likely fuming.

"What do you mean, 'a bit'?"

"I didn't come to the Common Room crying because I did badly on my Ancient Runes exam. Really, Al, I'm not _that_ prudish," she added quietly. Tears began to well up in her eyes as Rose remembered the true reason for why she'd been weeping this morning. _Damn these tears and these stupid emotions!_ she thought.

"Well then, why were you crying? I think I have a right to know." At this, Rose's head snapped up in disbelief.

"Says who?"

"Says me. Now, tell me, Rose. I don't think I can take much more of this constant bad attitude," Albus added softly, seeing how close his cousin was to crying.

Rose furrowed her eyebrows. "Well, it has to do with a few, erm, _select_ people you and I both know. One of them is, erm, similar in gender to me, and the other is similar in gender to –"

"Oh, Rose, just get on with it!"

"Fine!" Rose yelled. The usual din of house-elf voices and pots and pans clattering ceased instantaneously, and Rose could feel many, many pairs of tennis ball-sized eyes staring at her.

"Sorry," she whispered. "Are you sure you want to know? It's a rather long story." She hoped with all her might that Albus would say no, and that he would let her just, well, forget.

"Of course. I wouldn't be down here at 2 o'clock in the morning, taking away your pudding and scaring away all the house-elves if I didn't want to know."

"Okay," Rose reluctantly replied. "Here goes." Shakily, she took a deep breath and began.

-~:~-

Scorpius lay in his four-poster bed, staring up at the canopy, searching his mind and wondering where things could have ever gone so wrong. Yes, he could have handled things with Rose and Lauren a bit more carefully, but he most certainly was no Merlin. Even then, Scorpius was_ sure_ Merlin couldn't have done _any_ better than he did.

Scorpius sighed, turning over in his bed to face the window, watching the drizzling rain roll down the windows in the light of the candles left glowing. He knew that was a ridiculous assumption. Even Wesley Thompson, the most immature, selfish, prattiest boy in 4th year, would never have done what Scorpius had done.

Why did he ever think he could have gotten away with treating Rose like she was dirt? How did he ever get Lauren's attention? And how was it possible that Albus, his very best friend, knew nothing about this? Scorpius had assumed that Rose would have told him by now, in which case, Albus would have broken down the dungeon door that led to the Slytherin Common Room and wrung Scorpius' neck.

Of course Scorpius felt a bit of remorse for what he had caused. He'd be hardly human if he felt no guilt or sympathy. Though he tried not to notice Rose's gaze drop to her books whenever he entered a room, her feelings about the situation were painfully obvious. He'd also heard sobs coming from the back of the library more than once since he'd gotten together with Lauren.

Normally, this sort of reaction from a girl wouldn't faze Scorpius. But this wasn't just any old girl – this was Rose. A good friend. The one he'd always copy Potions homework from during breakfast. The only girl who scoffed at his ridiculous jokes with Albus, or his attempts at pranking. He'd always figured she'd never cared much about the fact that students teased her for her family or distinctly Weasley features. He'd also noticed her humility whenever she did well in class, which was most of the time. And even though she was a generally nice person, she had a tendency to get very upset about certain topics, like the prejudices against magical creatures and other issues, which Scorpius couldn't help but be amused at. It didn't hurt anything that she was mildly attractive, with her smattering of freckles across her face and wavy auburn hair, and the way her blue eyes sparkled when she was really happy.

Scorpius squeezed his eyes shut and tried to block out these thoughts of Rose. It wasn't right for him to be thinking of her as more than a friend when he could hardly ask of that from her. Especially not in the near future. _Everything between us now will be absolutely excellent_, he thought bitterly.

He'd really screwed things up with her.

Frustrated, Scorpius punched his pillow. "Damn it all!" he whispered.

"So," Rose concluded, "basically, the person who _used_ to be my _best friend_ is currently, erm, having _relations_ with… _your_ best friend." The pudding bowl sat on the counter, nearly empty, with two spoons at the bottom waiting to be retrieved.

Albus finished licking the pudding off his fingers and waited. He could tell by the faraway look in Rose's eyes that she wasn't finished.

"I mean, why would Lauren do this to me?" Rose asked in earnest. It broke Rose's heart to realize that Lauren truly wasn't the friend Rose had always thought she was. "Were the last three years between us totally fake?"

"Rose, you know they weren't. And, by the way, you would say 'faked' instead of 'fake'," Albus corrected.

"Honestly, Al, I'm not in the mood for a grammar lesson! It just completely escapes me how _anyone_ could be so _completely _oblivious to their _best friend's_ feelings. I mean, is it so hard to think of others before yourself? Ergh! She's _horrible_! And I don't understand why anyone would fancy her!" Rose could feel the tears start to well up in her eyes again, and she turned away from Albus in shame.

"She's not really –"

"Albus Severus Potter," Rose began with venom in her words, "don't you _dare_ defend Lauren James. I don't care if you think she'll go for a nerd like you when she could go for any other boy above us all, okay? She's become quite a… _horrible person_." Rose caught herself from saying something she didn't really want to say.

"All I was going to say," Albus retorted, "was that she's not really that great. I don't know what Scorpius sees in her, either."

A few moments of silence passed before Rose uttered an "Oh." Looking down at the floor, Rose realized that she had neglected to put on slippers, and that her socks were mismatched, again. She smiled a small, sad smile at the Weasley-ness of her feet and rested her head on the countertop, emotionally exhausted.

"Al, I just can't take it anymore. I feel so invisible! Especially in comparison to Lauren. I mean, take one good look at her and you're under her spell. She _must_ be part Veela." Rose's hands creeped up to cover her face as the damn tears threatened to spill over once again, but before she could completely shield her eyes, Albus grabbed her wrists gently.

"Rose, do you know how special you are?"

"No," Rose replied quietly, sniffling softly.

"Well, ask around. I know at least five people who'll tell you without hesitation. Come on, we've got double Potions in the morning."

"But, Al, the pudding…" Rose stared at the pudding dish longingly as Albus dragged her to the staircase.

"Rose…" Albus said sternly.

"Fine."

**A/N: Oh man. I feel like a giddy school girl who just talked to her crush in the hallway! Wow, deja vu... But, I digress. I really hope you liked it! And thank you so much for reading! I'm getting goosebumps from hoping that people will like this fic :) Please review if you want, but I won't get down on my knees and beg for a review, or charm you into reviewing, or get all huffy and puffy if the fic gets a billion hits and only one review... that's not how I roll! :) Thanks again!**


	2. Reassurances

**A/N: Hi. I've been really crappy about updating lately. I completely deserve any of the glares that I'm getting right now, if any. However, I _totally_ plan on seeing this story through, wherever it may go. Who knows? Not me.**

**Anywho, thanks to Song Of The Midnight Wolf, Mandy, and lost in your lies for reviewing, and to anyone who favorited and alerted this! This story means a lot to me, and I really appreciate anyone who thinks it's cool or decent enough to review it, favorite it, or alert it! Thanks again! :)**

**Chapter 3 is currently under construction, so here's a little filler!**

Scorpius shifted anxiously in his seat at the Slytherin table, watching the Great Hall entrance pointedly, waiting for one of two people to come to breakfast.

Lauren came in first, dark wavy hair bouncing about her shoulders as she practically skipped to Scorpius.

"Good morning," she said enthusiastically, placing a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Morning," he replied nonchalantly, trying to hide any kind of negative emotion. Lauren wasn't _completely_ stupid, and Scorpius could tell that she was just starting to notice the bags under his eyes. _Bollocks_.

"Did you sleep all right? You look a bit weary," she said, genuinely concerned, green eyes wide with anxiety. One of the nicer things about Lauren was that even though she could be a little oblivious and a bit immature, she was considerate about people's feelings. At least, Scorpius' feelings, anyway.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Worried about exams, is all."

"Scorp, that's three months away," Lauren pointed out, a look of disbelief crossing her face.

"Yes, well, it's best to start thinking about them now and not procrastinate later, right?" He could hardly believe the words were coming out of his mouth, and he nearly shook his head in amazement.

"I suppose," Lauren agreed with a small giggle, taking a seat at the table and motioning for Scorpius to join her. "You're always so concerned about your grades – it's quite cute, actually."

Scorpius managed a smile, guilt wrenching his insides for lying to her about something as trivial as why he hadn't slept. But he could just imagine her reaction if she knew that he'd lost sleep over Rose.

Quietly picking at his eggs and toast while Lauren gossiped with her friends about whatever they were gossiping about, Scorpius tried to justify his mixed feelings about dating Lauren. While he wished she didn't get between him and Rose, this was _Lauren James._ The fittest girl in the _whole_ school, who before their fourth year would never have given Scorpius a second glance. Didn't he deserve to date her? Rose should be happy for him! She should recognize his accomplishments and be proud of him instead of pouting about and making him feel guilty everywhere he went. He really didn't need Rose to be the grumpy, stormy cloud raining on his parade.

With a sudden desire to focus all of his energy on his gorgeous girlfriend, Scorpius finished his bite of eggs, set down his fork, and quickly wrapped his arms around Lauren. Startled, she gave a loud squeal, and Scorpius gave her a long, passionate kiss.

When they surfaced, Lauren looked at Scorpius in pleasant surprise and asked, breathless, "What was that for?"

"No reason. Couldn't help myself," he added with what he hoped was a coy smirk. All thoughts of Rose wiped from his mind, Scorpius wrapped his arm around Lauren's waist and enjoyed breakfast with her.

-~:~-

Sliding onto the wooden bench next to her cousin Lucy, Rose was ready to enjoy a well-needed breakfast. After staying up all night thinking about Scorpius and what a bloody arse he was, Rose was beginning to realize that she needed to get over him. Yes, it did mean sacrificing a good night's sleep to recognize this, and it would be hard to do, but she firmly believed that if she simply distanced herself from him, she could lose all of the romantic feelings she had for him.

Right?

"Rosie, did you sleep all right?" Lucy vigorously waved her hand in front of Rose's face. "You've got your elbow in your eggs."

"What?" Rose snapped out of her drowsiness-induced stupor and turned to her breakfast. "Oh, damn…"

"Have a nightmare or something?" Lucy asked, wiping the egg off Rose with the sleeve of her robe.

"Oh, er, no. Just couldn't sleep." Across the table, Albus lifted his head up from scarfing down his sausages and gave Lucy a knowing look. Not seeing their glances, Rose poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice and gulped it down rapidly.

"Erm, Rose," Lucy began carefully, "does this have something to do with, well, you-know-who?"

"Voldemort? What? Don't be silly," Rose joked lamely, knowing well enough who Lucy was talking about.

"Rose…"

"Okay, maybe."

Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Wait, before you get all judge-y, I've decided that I'm not going to let him _or _her get to me anymore. I'm done with the both of – "

"EEEE!"

The general murmur of conversation in the Great Hall ceased as a piercing cry of surprise reverberated off the walls. Exclamations of "Bloody hell!" and "What was that?" filled the place as many heads turned towards the Slytherin table.

"What on earth was that?" Lucy cried.

"No idea," Rose's little brother Hugo piped up, having just entered the Great Hall. "I just set my stuff down on the table and someone screamed."

"Mate, why do you look like you just woke up two seconds ago?" said Albus, concerned, noting the stack of books at Hugo's seat and his extremely disheveled bushy red hair.

"Sleep in the library again, Hugo?" Rose asked knowingly.

Hugo merely gave his sister a guilty look and sat down as the rest of his family laughed at his predictability.

"You _do_ realize that there are dormitories at Hogwarts for a reason, right?" Albus said, handing Hugo a piece of toast and passing the jam.

Eagerly, Hugo took the food and stuffed it all into his mouth as quickly as he could before replying, "Yes, well some investigations require hours upon hours! Last night I found out that the Hippocampi _actually_ originated in Scotl– "

"No offense, mate," interjected James loudly, nearing the table as he was only just coming to breakfast himself, "but I'm sure that whatever you're talking about is not nearly as interesting as what I'm _sure_ everyone else wants to talk about. Which is that Hogsmeade weekends start _this Saturday_ and Zonko's has a whole new section on–"

"James, no one cares about pranks! The reason why it's so significant that Hippocampi originated in Scotland and not in the Mediterranean is because the climate differenc–"

"Please, Hugo, the adults are _trying_ to have a conversation."

"Why do you _constantly_ bring that up? I'm only three years younger than you, and–"

Rose couldn't help but smile at the typical bickering between James and Hugo. They were so completely different that it didn't seem like they could be related at all, and started off every morning with a lighthearted argument. It was comforting and reassuring for Rose, to have a family she could rely on to provide comic relief. Merlin knew she needed it.

As Hugo and James continued to go at it, a petite blonde girl came up to Rose, black-and-yellow tie clashing horribly with her pale, daffodil-colored hair. Though Felicity Bott was definitely the shyest girl Rose had ever met, her infectious laugh and bubbly personality shone through, once you got to know her, of course. And she was also quite possibly the best artist in the fourth year, and maybe even the whole school.

"Hi, Rose. Are you ready to go to classes?" she asked quietly. Rose was frequently reminded of her parents' dear friend, Luna Scamander, whenever she was around Felicity because both were naturally quiet and kind and quite funny, too.

"I suppose. But I have Potions next," Rose answered, sighing dramatically at the end.

"Yes, I know, but Charms is on the way and I don't feel like meeting Goyle and his stupid sixth-year wannabes in the corridors today." Felicity shuddered at the thought.

"Oh, sure… Yeah, let's go," Rose agreed, hoisting her bag over her shoulder. "Bye, Luce," she added. Lucy gave a smile and a wave before returning to the ongoing conflict between Hugo and James. Albus threw Rose a look in an _are-you-sure-you're-okay?_ kind of way, and Rose nodded before leaving the table with Felicity.

"So, how's the, erm, _issue_ going?" Felicity asked carefully.

"Issue?"

"Well, I mean, just look at them…" Felicity replied a little nervously.

Rose turned her head toward the Slytherin table, and the scene seemed to play out in slow motion as she and Felicity passed. Lauren and Scorpius were sitting practically on top of one another, both pairs of arms entwined, giving each other tiny, innocent kisses. To another onlooker, it all would have seemed so sweet, almost poetic, but to Rose, it was enough to make her want to spit.

"What of it?" Rose said, _trying_ with all of her might not to have a tantrum. She could feel the Weasley-red blush creeping up her neck.

"Er, I just thought…"

"I'm done with Lauren's attention-hogging antics, and I'm certainly over Scorpius Malfoy. Can we go to class now, please?" Torn between crying and yelling out in anger, Rose practically ran out of the Great Hall, heart almost ripping in two.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I know this was fairly quick, but originally it was going to be combined with Chapter 3 and I just didn't want to put people through reading so much, because I can't stand when I get sucked into an epic chapter! Maybe it's just me... hmm. Well, if you want to review, please do! Don't feel obligated to review, though... I mean, in a perfect world maybe, but who actually _likes_ reviewing EVERY story they've ever read? Not me. :) **


	3. The Jealous and the Clueless

**A/N: School is out in two days! Hopefully that means more updating and less procrastinating! Just a heads up - this chapter is very long... or at least, it seems long to me! I wanted to split it up, but I just couldn't! Regardless of length, this is a pretty important chapter (in terms of plot development)!**

**Thanks to immapoetandiknowit, amixdeuxgirl, thestarlitrose, and Loslote for reviewing last chapter! Also, thank you so much to anyone who favorited or alerted! I hope this chapter is to everyone's liking!**

Rose's jaw dropped in pure incredulity. This couldn't be happening. There was no way that it was happening. She was dreaming. A pinch on the arm. _No, not dreaming,_ she thought bitterly.

"… And make certain _not_ to spill the puffer-fish eyes. We surely don't want to lose those!" Professor Baddock continued, her jowls shaking as she spoke. The corpulent old lady brandished her wand like a sword as she spoke with little sparks shooting out of the tip every few seconds, landing on the unfortunate students near the front and inflicting different wounds every time. It was nearly comical to watch, but Rose had more serious problems on her mind.

"Excuse me, Professor?" she asked hesitantly.

"No, Miss Weasley, it is not required to make an anti-dote for this potion. And I wish you wouldn't," the teacher added grudgingly.

"No, miss, I, er, was wondering if you thought it, erm, reasonable to put two Slytherins with a Gryffindor for this assignment. I mean, wouldn't it... er, be easier for them to… erm, work with another Slytherin on the essay?" Rose pleaded, testing the waters. There was no possible way that she was going to make a Swelling Solution _and_ write an essay on the process with _Scorpius Malfoy and Lauren James_!

"Now, Miss Weasley," Baddock began crossly. "I don't know why you can't just deal with it? I'm sure Miss James has no problem with this arrangement, hmm?" Lauren shook her head quickly, eyes wide with fear. No student in their right mind would want to cross the wizened old professor. "And," Baddock continued, "surely Mister Malfoy would be delighted to work with the both of you?"

Scorpius merely nodded, a miserable look on his face.

"Now, would you PLEASE let me continue? Thank you, Miss Weasley!" Rose's shoulders fell in defeat as she realized there was no getting around it – she had to do the assignment. Getting it done faster would certainly mean spending less time with the two of them, right?

Glancing back at her new (how she hated thinking it) _partners_, Rose made eye contact with Scorpius. She hoped that he could feel the hatred from her stare, the complete _loathing_, the desperation, the longing, the pathetically hopeful feeling she got whenever she remembered the good times, when Lauren wasn't in the picture, when there were no complicated emotions and she didn't _want_ to be curled up next to him in front of a fireplace, watching the embers slowly die as she fell asleep on his chest, his soft breathing supplying the best kind of lullaby.

As Rose hastily turned away, still reminiscing about something she never had, she faintly heard her teacher's bellow, telling the students to get to work. Immediately, Rose was struck dumb with discomfiture – should she go to where Scorpius and Lauren were sitting, with the rest of the Slytherins? Should they come to her? Mentally cursing the despicable teacher for putting her in this situation, Rose decided to enter the swamp of green ties in the back of the classroom and finish the assignment as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be that simple. As soon as Rose sat down with the pair, Lauren decided to make the situation considerably more awkward.

"Erm, I know you're _really_ pissed at me, and you know I'm not _that_ brilliant at potions, so… I'll just sit. Don't want to muck it all up!" she added with a cheerful grin. Rose nearly rolled her eyes, expecting this sort of thing from Lauren. She'd sat back and let the work be done for her before and had no problem with doing that again.

"I'll get the puffer-fish eyes," Rose offered reluctantly. With a sigh, she left her seat, but not before another brief eye contact with Scorpius. Instead of trying to channel her hatred, she tried to get across her disgust with his nonchalance. He hadn't said a word to her, and she had a feeling he wanted to keep it that way.

-~:~-

She hadn't said a word to him, and he had a feeling she wanted to keep it that way. Lauren was being unbelievably tactless, as she knew about his and Rose's friendship before the whole fiasco (and also seemed to not care about her _own_ friendship with Rose), and Scorpius couldn't bring himself to say the right thing. While he was still head over heels for Lauren, having to work on an assignment with Rose brought back the guilty pangs.

During the remainder of class, Lauren could not be bothered to help make the Swelling Solution or write notes on it, leaving a discouraged and extremely irritable Rose to offer to write the essay single-handedly and put everyone's name on it. Under normal circumstances, Scorpius would have offered to help with the daunting task of writing the essay, but Rose was obviously frustrated with the situation and didn't want to be bothered. In the past, if she'd been forced to do someone else's work, she would just grin and bear it – he was certain she couldn't have changed too much in just two weeks.

The school day went on as normal, with the usual pranks in the corridors and first years stuck in the trick stair and paintings yelling obscene things at everyone as they passed while waving their mead goblet at the passer-by and sloshing it all over the place. It was a fairly average day, and Scorpius went about it fairly normally. But there was always a constant nagging in the back of his brain, like the lonely sock under the bed that's so far away you can barely reach it. After his last class, and after he and Lauren parted ways so she could go spend some time with her gossipy friends, Scorpius decided he would visit the library to clear his mind.

Scorpius was _not_ known as a swotty student. Sure, he did well in school, but he didn't want to flaunt it. Too many times he'd heard of the over-achiever who always sat in the front of the class, yet was the object of torment and wasn't invited to any midnight parties on the Astronomy Tower. He would much rather have a social life than show off. But every now and then, he would find himself wandering toward the library for entertainment, rather than to the Quidditch pitch or the courtyard like all of his mates. He wasn't proud of it, and he was pretty convinced that Rose and Albus were the only people who knew this, but he would rather read a book on the history of Quidditch than play it.

So when Scorpius found himself wandering yet again to the library, secretly longing for the smell of leather bound books while calling himself a ponce for longing for that smell, he was not surprised to see Rose through the window, hair pulled back and a permanently frustrated expression on her face as she angrily flipped through a book, nearly knocking her inkpot off the table.

Suddenly, Scorpius stopped. The entrance to the library was mere feet in front of him, and yet he couldn't get himself to go in. There was no logical reason for him _not_ to go in – he didn't have to worry about Goyle and his cronies (they probably didn't even know that the school had a library) and he had returned his overdue book a week ago, so there was no threat of Madam Pince swooping down on him like some ancient and decrepit crow. What's more was that he had wanted so badly to read a book and get lost in it. Why couldn't he just go in?

_Come on, mate. It's just Rose. She's no beast – you tamed her, remember? And she won't bite. She's just wounded. Grow a pair and go into the damn library!_

_Yeah, Scorpius, it's either that or you stand out here and risk looking like an idiotic git… not many normal people stand outside a library and stare at it._

_Shut up, you prats_. Great. He was talking to himself. Was he going crazy? He wasn't completely sure, but there must have been some lunacy in him, because he marched straight into the library and headed for the reference section, passing right by Rose. He could practically feel her head tilt up, only for a moment, as he walked by, and resisted the urge to look back at her and say something like, "Got a staring problem, Weasley?" And then he'd smirk at her and she'd just roll her stormy blue eyes and he'd suggest they go "sit" somewhere more comfortable and she'd smack him for being perverted and he'd practically revel in his masculine glory, just like always. Rose would then laugh at his shameless self-adoration, and then she'd sigh and say, "I suppose I can do this work later." Then the pair would leave the library and go find Albus for some kind of frivolity, just like always.

Unfortunately, Scorpius had an abruptly distressing feeling that he might never be able to do that sort of thing again. Those were the good times, and he was pretty sure that, somehow, he'd ruined the fun of them, not only for himself, but for his friends, too.

Scorpius stood at the back of the reference section, where all the Quidditch books were, for about fifteen minutes, until he was too bored to do anything else. He tucked his book of choice under his arm and made his way back to where Rose was sitting, ever so diligently writing that stupid Potions essay. She had an extremely long roll of parchment stuck under her left elbow that she was reading off of, and another extremely long roll of parchment near her right that she was scribbling on. Unsure of what to do, Scorpius walked up to Rose and stood there.

"Erm, is that the essay?" he asked weakly.

"Yes," Rose replied simply.

"Oh. Er, good."

"…Good…?" Rose's skepticism was clear. _Bollocks._

"Yeah, 'cause I wanted to know if you need any help." _There you go, Scorpius. Not a _total_ mumbling idiot, are you?_

"No, thanks," Rose said, ever so nonchalantly that Scorpius was caught off guard.

"Er, okay." As the seconds ticked on, Scorpius could tell that he was looking more and more like a foolish boy who couldn't get a girl to talk to him. "Care if I join you?" he asked, trying to save himself from certain humiliation.

"Actually…" Rose began, but it was too late. Scorpius pulled out a chair from the table and promptly sat down, setting his book down a little too hard. He didn't want to have to acknowledge it anymore than she did, but Scorpius was determined to clear the dusty library air.

"Look, Rose, I'm sorry that Lauren was being such a pain today. You know she's not usually –"

"That's alright," Rose replied carefully. "I know it's hard for her to concentrate when she has her_ boyfriend_ to impress!" Stunned, Scorpius looked down at the wooden table, studying the patterns in the grain and hoping to hide his growing embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," she added after a long, awkward pause. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm just so…" Rose paused, not knowing how to continue.

"On edge? Tense? Pissed?" Scorpius offered.

"No. Upset."

The chill in the library immediately worsened, and Scorpius turned his gaze to the frosted panes of a nearby window only to see that the first few flurries of what seemed to be a dramatic snowstorm were flying by. It seemed as though one of the first early November snow-squalls was about to begin.

"Well," he started matter-of-factly, bringing his attention back to Rose, "I'm sorry that you're so upset. It's just that I can't –"

"Bring yourself to realize that Lauren is so wrong for you in so many ways? Or you just can't see beyond the end of your damn nose?" Rose said harshly. "She's not the _only_ girl in the whole school, and even _you_ aren't so much of a bloody _arse _that you don't know it."

"God, Rose, can't you just let it go? I don't see why it's such a big problem," Scorpius replied menacingly.

"You don't get it, do you? Boys need _everything_ explained to them," Rose interjected, rolling her eyes for emphasis.

"Whatever, Weasley," Scorpius replied angrily. "I'm gone." Not without rage, Scorpius stood up, pushed his chair back into the table, and walked out of the library and up the stairs.

God, why on earth was Rose so temperamental? Everything had to be about her! Even when he was trying to apologize, she had to turn the situation into a big fight! She would never understand how much he liked Lauren, and she would never understand how perfect they were for each other. There also didn't seem to be another person in the whole school who hated the pair of them together. And if there was, they didn't make their feelings extremely obvious, like Rose had chosen to do. He just wished that –

Without any warning, there was a blast of freezing cold air on Scorpius' face. Somehow, he had walked all the way up to the Astronomy Tower, and was now looking out on what was probably a very picturesque setting, with the lake and the forest and mountains all covered in snow. The crispness of the storm shook Scorpius out of his reverie, and Scorpius' thoughts turned softer.

While he would never truly be able to forgive Rose for being so unreasonably upset over the situation, he had to admit that he hadn't made anything very easy for her. Especially today, when Lauren practically gave up on the assignment and Rose did mostly everything just to give the three of them a good grade. And he _had _sort of ditched her for Lauren. After all, while Lauren and Rose had been good friends for one or two years, Scorpius and Rose had been _real_ mates.

Yet, Scorpius was still confused as to why Rose would be so upset. It wasn't like someone had said to her, "Because Scorpius is in a relationship with Lauren, the two of you can no longer be friends." The only plausible reason Scorpius could come up with was totally ridiculous and not even worth considering. Still…

There was a point in the beginning of first year when James Potter and his friends had sort of cornered Scorpius in the Great Hall after breakfast one day. James' friends had laughed at Scorpius' expression when James said to him, "Have you heard that my pratty little cousin fancies you?" After word had gotten around, Rose immediately distanced herself from Scorpius for a solid fortnight, and didn't talk to him again for a month until she uttered the words, "It was never true," to him in Charms class one day. Scorpius had always thought to leave it that, but now, he wasn't so sure if she had been telling the truth then. And if she wasn't telling the truth _then_…

Scorpius raced back to the library as fast as his feet could take him. He wasn't quite sure, but he thought it was because he wanted to go ask Rose herself if she was upset because she was _jealous_. Part of him didn't believe that she could potentially be jealous, but another part of him was thinking that she _was._ Was it possible that yet another part of him _wanted_ her to be jealous, also?

Racing through the ancient library doors and not bothering to be quiet, Scorpius rushed back to the table where Rose had been working so diligently on their Potions essay. But to his dismay, her papers, inkpot, and bag were all gone from the area.

And, sadly, so was Rose.

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I hope it's not too wordy. Is it? I also think it's a bit boring. Hopefully the next chapter will be a bit more interesting! Who knows! If you want to, I would appreciate a review, but it's certainly not obligatory! I don't want to get hypocritical and demand several reviews for this chapter! :) I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you so much for reading! - littlefish**


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